Head of Footwear Development - Football

On; Zürich; On-site; CHF 250,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

On in Zurich seeks a Head of Football Footwear Development to lead the creation and scale of our premium football footwear lineup. You will shape the long‑term technical vision, build a world‑class team, and drive game‑changing manufacturing innovations.

You will partner with design, biomechanics, product management, and global partners to ensure technical excellence, rigorous validation, and seamless translation from concept to performance on the pitch.

Qualifications

• Experience: 10–15+ years of deep expertise in footwear development, with a proven track record specifically within high‑performance Football (Soccer) footwear.
• Disruptive mindset: Highly adaptable with demonstrated experience implementing unconventional, agile, or disruptive manufacturing methods (e.g., automation, additive manufacturing).
• Proven executive leadership: Experience building, leading, and mentoring technical teams with executive presence to influence product management, design, and external partners.
• Deep domain mastery: Comprehensive understanding of football‑specific biomechanics, plate dynamics, stud pressure distribution, specialized last development, and upper material behavior under match conditions.
• Systemic & commercial vision: Balancing high‑risk/high‑reward innovation with commercial viability and global supply chain scalability.
• Collaborative & culturally agile: Ability to translate creative vision into technical reality across diverse, multi‑regional teams (HQ to Asia).
• Communication: Fluency in English (verbal and written) with exceptional consultative and strategic presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the overarching technical and development strategy for Football footwear.
• Pioneer the adoption of agile, disruptive manufacturing methods and next‑generation tooling.
• Drive category‑defining innovation directly from the inline development process.
• Serve as the final technical authority during briefing, design, and execution phases.
• Lead high‑level alignment between Zurich‑based Design, Product Management, Biomechanics, and Asia partners.
• Build, mentor, and scale an elite team of developers and engineers.
• Identify bottlenecks and transform global supply chain capabilities to enable quick‑turn, high‑agility production.
• Establish category‑wide validation benchmarks for fit, feel, traction, and durability.

Skills

Footwear development

Executive leadership

Biomechanics knowledge

Strategic vision

Cross-functional collaboration

English fluency

Job description

In short

Based at our Zurich HQ, you will be the visionary force and executive technical leader driving On’s entry and dominance in Football footwear. In this pivotal role, you will champion groundbreaking creation, build a world‑class team, and fearlessly disrupt traditional manufacturing processes to engineer the most premium, disruptive performance products in the industry.

As Head of Football Footwear Development, you will seamlessly connect the granular with the macro‑strategic—serving as the ultimate technical authority while shaping the long‑term vision for On’s newest and most critical category. By ensuring absolute synergy between radical design vision, elite biomechanical performance, and next‑generation manufacturing feasibility, you will set the benchmark for football footwear creation. You will provide the technical governance, cross‑functional leadership, and pioneering strategy needed to build our football department from the ground up, driving innovation straight into our inline product strategy while scaling the category globally.

This role reports directly to the Head of Innovation Footwear, leading the dedicated Zurich‑based Football Development team and partnering closely with global footwear leadership.

Your Mission

• Strategic & Disruptive Leadership: Define and execute the overarching technical and development strategy for Football footwear. Pioneer the adoption of agile, disruptive manufacturing methods and next‑generation tooling to bypass traditional constraints.
• Inline Innovation Engine: Drive category‑defining innovation directly from the inline development process, elevating brand equity, performance standards, and technological capabilities across the broader organization.
• Technical & Category Governance: Serve as the final technical authority during briefing, design, and execution phases—ensuring football‑specific demands (traction, stud configuration, upper lockdown, ball feel, and touch) meet rigorous scientific standards.
• Strategic Global Synchronization: Lead high‑level alignment between Zurich‑based Design, Product Management, Biomechanics, and Asia‑based development and manufacturing partners, safeguarding the performance "soul" of the football category across all franchises.
• Team Building & Talent Empowerment: Build, mentor, and scale a elite team of developers and engineers, inspiring a culture of relentless curiosity, technical rigor, and hands‑on experimentation.
• Manufacturing & Supply Chain Evolution: Identify technical bottlenecks and transform global supply chain capabilities by partnering with tier‑1 suppliers and novel manufacturing vendors to enable quick‑turn, high‑agility production.
• Elite Performance & Quality Assurance: Establish and oversee category‑wide validation benchmarks for fit, feel, traction, energy return, and long‑term durability across all factory partners.

Your Story

• Experience: 10–15+ years of deep expertise in footwear development, with a proven track record specifically within high‑performance Football (Soccer) footwear.
• Disruptive Mindset: Highly adaptable with demonstrated experience implementing unconventional, agile, or disruptive manufacturing methods (e.g., advanced automation, additive manufacturing, 3D/textile innovation, automated bonding).
• Proven Executive Leadership: Experience building, leading, and mentoring technical teams, with the executive presence to influence product management, design, and external partners at the highest levels.
• Deep Domain Mastery: Comprehensive understanding of football‑specific biomechanics, plate dynamics, stud pressure distribution, specialized last development, and upper material behavior under match conditions.
• Systemic & Commercial Vision: Exceptional ability to balance high‑risk/high‑reward innovation with commercial viability and global supply chain scalability.
• Collaborative & Culturally Agile: A natural bridge builder capable of translating creative vision into technical reality across diverse, multi‑regional teams (HQ to Asia execution).
• Communication: Fluency in English (verbal and written) with exceptional consultative and strategic presentation skills.

Attributes Of a Successful Candidate

• The Master Craftsman & Innovator: Deeply knowledgeable in football footwear heritage, yet obsessed with tearing down old rules to build radical new systems.
• The Visionary Architect: Focuses on both the "how" and the "where next," ensuring the football category’s technical roadmap pushes the limits of physics and athlete capability.
• The System Disrupter: Thrives on agility—able to pivot quickly, challenge traditional manufacturing timelines, and integrate cutting‑edge concepts into inline production.

Your Team

You will lead the Zurich‑based Football Footwear Development team.

We are an innovative, creative, and science‑driven team dedicated to converting cutting‑edge ideas into high‑performance footwear. Driven by constant curiosity and an unrelenting ambition, we are a collective built to disrupt: constantly breaking the system only to rebuild it as the most innovative brand in football.

In Zurich, our team acts as the primary link between Biomechanical Research, Material Science, Design, and Sourcing, ensuring that every innovation is grounded in technical reality before it reaches the pitch. Our team combines deep expertise in engineering, development, and product management to create gear that meets rigorous scientific and technical standards. We foster a hands‑on, highly collaborative environment where experts work alongside the very best in their respective fields.

United by a shared obsession with excellence, we will never stop on our quest to redefine the game and create the world’s best football products, time and time again. As the Head of this team, you will lead this high‑performance heart of the category, ensuring our technical standards and performance identity remain uncompromised as we expand.